Author: Mihaela Limberea

My 2024 Favorite Photos

16th December 2024
Photography
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As 2024 comes to a close, it’s natural to reflect on the past year. Let’s take a look, shall we?

Lion portrait

Unwavering Gaze: this is my absolute favorite photo this year, by far.

I photographed this four-year-old lion in the Lapalala Wilderness Reserve a few months ago, and it is possibly the most beautiful lion I’ve ever seen. Being just a few meters away from this magnificent animal as it looked at me sent shivers down my spine. I still feel that thrill whenever I look at the photo.

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🦁Lion (Panthera leo)

📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM

 📍Lapalala Wilderness Reserve, South Africa

Did you know that a zebra’s stripe pattern is as unique as human fingerprints? Scientists believe that this helps zebras recognize each other.  The stripes also aid in camouflage, making it more difficult for predators to distinguish individual zebras by obscuring their silhouettes.

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🦓Zebra (Equus quagga)

📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM

 📍Lapalala Wilderness Reserve, South Africa

Sheep at dawn

Sometimes, simple is best—just a few grazing sheep and the beauty of the rising sun. There’s something about that golden light that makes everything—sheep butts included—look fabulous!

We were on our way to Seal Bay for a 7am appointment with the research team when we came across these sheep grazing peacefully as the sun rose. Everything was bathed in gold; it was breathtaking.

Unfortunately, we were in a hurry and couldn’t afford to stop for too long. I literally jumped out of the car and quickly took a few photos, hoping some would be good enough 😅. 

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📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM

📍Kangaroo Island, South Australia

A zebra walks leisurely ahead of its harem in the Marakele National Park, South Africa.

A zebra walks leisurely ahead of its harem in the Marataba Game Reserve, South Africa. In zoology, a harem is a group of zebras consisting of one stallion, several mares, and their offspring. I love that soft morning light.

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🦓Zebra (Equus quagga)

📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM

📍Marataba Game Reserve, South Africa

Boxing KI Kangaroo Joeys

Boxing practice: two young kangaroos sparring at sunset. This is how they learn to fight, first with their mother and then with other young males. As they grow, sparring with other males helps them establish their position within the mob. With experience, the sparring sessions become longer and more intense.

Kangaroos use their sharp claws, strong back legs, and muscular tails —capable of supporting their entire body weight — to deliver powerful kicks that could disembowel a human.

However, these youngsters were only playing and started grooming each other shortly afterward.

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🦘Kangaroo Island Kangaroos (Macropus fuliginosus fuliginosus)

📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM

📍Kangaroo Island, South Australia

Australian sea lion pup on the beach

I had a wonderful time watching this young Australian sea lion carefully inspect every stone, stick, and shell on the beach at Seal Bay. It was a beautiful display of innocence and curiosity. Kids, whether human or animal, are always curious! 😍

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🦭Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea) 

📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM

📍Seal Bay, Kangaroo Island, South Australia

Australian sea lions(Neophoca cinerea)

Moments like these are why I love wildlife photography, even more so when knowing how few of these animals are left in the world.

Unique to South and Western Australia,  Australian sea lions are one of the rarest animals in the world, with a total population of around 6.500.  Australian sea lions are on the endangered species list today, having been hunted to near extension in the 19th century. 

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🦭Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea) 

📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM

📍Seal Bay, Kangaroo Island, South Australia

Elephant Portrait

African elephant photographed in Marataba Game Reserve, South Africa. Many people commented on the elephant’s long lashes on Instagram, but most missed just how long they really were. Take another look. Yes, they are long and thick near the eye, but if you look closer, you’ll see that they are even longer than you think!

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🐘African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana)

📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM

📍Marataba Game Reserve, South Africa

Woodpecker

Did you know that woodpeckers store seeds, berries, and acorns  in the hollows of trees to prepare for the winter? In late autumn, these resourceful birds not only stash food for the colder months but also occasionally utilize these tree hollows as shelter for resting.

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Great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)

📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM

📍Lidingö, Stockholm (Sweden)

Red squirrel

This is how you pose 👌! When I took this photo in June, I was confident this would be one of my favorite images of the year. A quick glance at the back of the camera confirmed it.

Red squirrel with Halloween pumpkins

This year’s Halloween card, I love it!

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🐿 Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)

📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM

📍Lidingö, Sweden

A red squirrel digs through the snow

A red squirrel digs through the snow in search of hidden nuts. Squirrels have an excellent sense of smell and can detect food buried under 30 centimeters (one foot) of snow!

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🐿 Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)

📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM

📍Lidingö, Sweden

Blue tit celebrating New Year

I hope you enjoyed looking at the photos. Here’s to more, better images to come in 2025! Cheers!

I wish you a very, very Happy New Year! Gott Nytt År as we say in Swedish.

Nightfall in the Tropics

10th December 2024
Poetry
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  1. Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale
  2. From Blossoms
  3. Wild Geese
  4. The Peace of Wild Things
  5. My Gift to You
  6. Departing Spring
  7. The Skylark
  8. What a Strange Thing!
  9. Although The Wind …
  10. The Old Pond
  11. Spring Is Like A Perhaps Hand
  12. Hast thou 2 loaves of bread …
  13. Youth and Age
  14. A Postcard From the Volcano
  15. The Kraken
  16. He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
  17. There Is a Solitude of Space
  18. Because I Could Not Stop for Death
  19. Mad Song
  20. Answer July
  21. Success Is Counted Sweetest
  22. Hope Is the Thing with Feathers
  23. The Bluebird
  24. A Vision of the End
  25. The Crying of Water
  26. A Rose Has Thorns As Well As Honey
  27. Winter
  28. The Dark Cavalier
  29. There is no Life or Death
  30. Sheep in Winter
  31. To a Snowflake
  32. Sextain
  33. A Crocodile
  34. Sea Fever
  35. The Giant Cactus of Arizona
  36. The Coming of Night
  37. Going to the Picnic
  38. Moon Tonight
  39. A Southern Night
  40. Greenness
  41. Twilight
  42. On the Wing
  43. In Summer
  44. Before Parting
  45. Sonnet
  46. The Red Wheelbarrow
  47. Acceptance
  48. At The Pool
  49. Incurable
  50. Bluebird and Cardinal
  51. [Say What You Will, And Scratch My Heart To Find]
  52. The River
  53. Vas Doloris
  54. Squirrel
  55. Ghosts
  56. The Spirit of Poetry
  57. Nightfall in the Tropics
  58. Journey of the Magi Scheduled for 23rd December 2024
  59. The City Lights Scheduled for 7th January 2025
Tropical beach at night

There is twilight grey and gloomy 
    Where the sea its velvet trails;
Out across the heavens roomy 
    Draw the veils. 

Bitter and sonorous rises 
    The complaint from out the deeps, 
And the wave the wind surprises 
    Weeps. 

Viols there amid the gloaming 
    Hail the sun that dies, 
And the white spray in its foaming 
    “Miserere” sighs. 

Harmony the heavens embraces, 
    And the breeze is lifting free 
To the chanting of the races 
    Of the sea. 

Clarions of horizons calling 
    Strike a symphony most rare, 
As if mountain voices calling 
    Vibrate there. 

As though dread, unseen, were walking, 
    As though awesome echoes bore 
On the distant breeze’s quaking 
    The lion’s roar.
 

Translated from the Spanish by Thomas Walsh

Rubén Darío (1867—1916) was an influential Nicaraguan poet, journalist, and diplomat who initiated the Spanish-language literary movement known as modernismo(modernism).

To read more poems, click here.

It’s International Cheetah Day!

4th December 2024
Wildlife
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Two cheetah brothers

Happy International Cheetah Day! 

Did you know that the black tear stripes on a cheetah’s face, which run from its eyes to its mouth, function like a rifle scope? These stripes help protect their eyes from the sun’s glare, allowing cheetahs to focus on their prey from a long distance. Isn’t nature amazing?

🐆Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)

📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM

 📍Lapalala Wilderness Reserve, South Africa

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Favorite Photos: November 2024

1st December 2024
PhotographyWildlife
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  1. Favorite Photos: January 2023
  2. Favorite Photos: February 2023
  3. Favorite Photos: March 2023
  4. Favorite Photos: April 2023
  5. Favorite Photos: May 2023
  6. Favorite Photos: June 2023
  7. Favorite Photos: July 2023
  8. Favorite Photos: August 2023
  9. Paris Is Always A Good Idea
  10. Favorite Photos: October 2023
  11. Favorite Photos: November 2023
  12. Favorite Photos: December 2023
  13. Favorite Photos: January 2024
  14. Favorite Photos: February 2024
  15. Favorite Photos: March 2024
  16. Favorite Photos: April 2024
  17. Favorite Photos: May 2024
  18. Favorite Photos: June 2024
  19. Favorite Photos: July 2024
  20. Favorite Photos: August 2024
  21. Favorite Photos: September 2024
  22. Favorite Photos: October 2024
  23. Favorite Photos: November 2024
Lion portrait in black and white

Unwavering gaze. I photographed this four-year-old lion in the Lapalala Wilderness Reserve a few months ago, and it is possibly the most beautiful lion I’ve ever seen. Being just a few meters away from this magnificent animal as it looked at me sent shivers down my spine. I still feel that thrill whenever I look at the photo.

This is one of my top favorite photos this year, likely one of the 2024 top ten. Maybe THE 2024 favorite? We’ll see, we’ll see … only a few weeks to go.

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🦁Lion (Panthera leo)

📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM

 📍Lapalala Wilderness Reserve, South Africa

Lion portrait

Same lion, now in color. It’s interesting how some photos can look better in black-and-white, as is the case with this lion …

Zebra portrait at sunset

… or in color, as it’s the case with this zebra.

Did you know that a zebra’s stripe pattern is as unique as human fingerprints? Scientists believe that this helps zebras recognize each other.  The stripes also aid in camouflage, making it more difficult for predators to distinguish individual zebras by obscuring their silhouettes.

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🦓Zebra (Equus quagga)

📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM

 📍Lapalala Wilderness Reserve, South Africa

Zebra portrait in black and white

Same zebra, now in black-and-white. It’s an OK photo, but I think I like the color version better.

Lion licking its' mouth

Circle of life in the Lapalala Wilderness. After feasting on the remains of a roan antelope, a young lion scans its surroundings; truly a sight to behold.

(And, truth to be told, a bit nerve-wracking, standing just a few meters from the lion. “Not interested in your antelope, sir, I’m a vegetarian”!)

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🦁Lion (Panthera leo)

📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM

 📍Lapalala Wilderness Reserve, South Africa

All photos were taken with Canon EOS R5 and Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM.

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The Spirit of Poetry

19th November 2024
Poetry
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  1. Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale
  2. From Blossoms
  3. Wild Geese
  4. The Peace of Wild Things
  5. My Gift to You
  6. Departing Spring
  7. The Skylark
  8. What a Strange Thing!
  9. Although The Wind …
  10. The Old Pond
  11. Spring Is Like A Perhaps Hand
  12. Hast thou 2 loaves of bread …
  13. Youth and Age
  14. A Postcard From the Volcano
  15. The Kraken
  16. He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
  17. There Is a Solitude of Space
  18. Because I Could Not Stop for Death
  19. Mad Song
  20. Answer July
  21. Success Is Counted Sweetest
  22. Hope Is the Thing with Feathers
  23. The Bluebird
  24. A Vision of the End
  25. The Crying of Water
  26. A Rose Has Thorns As Well As Honey
  27. Winter
  28. The Dark Cavalier
  29. There is no Life or Death
  30. Sheep in Winter
  31. To a Snowflake
  32. Sextain
  33. A Crocodile
  34. Sea Fever
  35. The Giant Cactus of Arizona
  36. The Coming of Night
  37. Going to the Picnic
  38. Moon Tonight
  39. A Southern Night
  40. Greenness
  41. Twilight
  42. On the Wing
  43. In Summer
  44. Before Parting
  45. Sonnet
  46. The Red Wheelbarrow
  47. Acceptance
  48. At The Pool
  49. Incurable
  50. Bluebird and Cardinal
  51. [Say What You Will, And Scratch My Heart To Find]
  52. The River
  53. Vas Doloris
  54. Squirrel
  55. Ghosts
  56. The Spirit of Poetry
  57. Nightfall in the Tropics
  58. Journey of the Magi Scheduled for 23rd December 2024
  59. The City Lights Scheduled for 7th January 2025
Pine tree reflections in the sea

There is a quiet spirit in these woods,
That dwells where’er the gentle southwind blows;
Where, underneath the white-thorn, in the glade,
The wild flowers bloom, or, kissing the soft air,
The leaves above their sunny palms outspread.
With what a tender and impassioned voice
It fills the nice and delicate ear of thought,
When the fast ushering star of morning comes
O’er-riding the gray hills with golden scarf;
Or when the cowled and dusky-sandaled Eve
In mourning weeds, from out the western gate,
Departs with silent pace! That spirit moves
In the green valley, where the silver brook,
From its full laver, pours the white cascade;
And, babbling low amid the tangled woods,
Slips down through moss-grown stones with endless laughter.
And frequent, on the everlasting hills,
Its feet go forth, when it doth wrap itself
In all the dark embroidery of the storm,
And shouts the stern, strong wind. And here, amid
The silent majesty of these deep woods,
Its presence shall uplift thy thoughts from earth,
As to the sunshine and the pure, bright air
Their tops the green trees lift. Hence gifted bards
Have ever loved the calm and quiet shades.
For them there was an eloquent voice in all
The sylvan pomp of woods, the golden sun,
The flowers, the leaves, the river on its way,
Blue skies, and silver clouds, and gentle winds,
The swelling upland, where the sidelong sun
Aslant the wooded slope, at evening, goes,
Groves, through whose broken roof the sky looks in,
Mountain, and shattered cliff, and sunnyvale, 
The distant lake, fountains, and mighty trees,
In many a lazy syllable, repeating 
Their old poetic legends to the wind.
And this is the sweet spirit, that doth fill
The world; and, in these wayward days of youth,
My busy fancy oft embodies it,
As a bright image of the light and beauty
That dwell in nature; of the heavenly forms
We worship in our dreams, and the soft hues
That stain the wild bird’s wing and flush the clouds
When the sun sets. Within her tender eye
The heaven of April, with its changing light,
And when it wears the blue of May, is hung,
And on her lip the rich, red rose. Her hair
Is like the summer tresses of the trees,
When twilight makes them brown, and on her cheek
Blushes the richness of an autumn sky,
With ever-shifting beauty. Then her breath,
It is so like the gentle air of Spring,
As, from the morning’s dewy flowers, it comes
Full of their fragrance, that it is a joy
To have it round us, and her silver voice
Is the rich music of a summer bird,
Heard in the till night, with its passionate cadence.
 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 – 1882) was an American poet and educator, and one of the monumental cultural figures of nineteenth-century America.

To read more poems, click here.

Elyanna: A New Favorite for My Music Playlists

13th November 2024
Music
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It’s always such a joy discovering new music! I’ve recently stumbled over Elyanna (the stage name of Elian Marjieh), a 22 year-old Palestinian-Chilean singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles.

She merges Arabic music with Latin rhythms to create an experimental Arab-pop sound with inspiration from jazz and blues. She’s released one studio album so far (Woledto, April 2024) and I’m looking forward to hear more from her.

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Ghosts

5th November 2024
Poetry
0 Comment
  1. Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale
  2. From Blossoms
  3. Wild Geese
  4. The Peace of Wild Things
  5. My Gift to You
  6. Departing Spring
  7. The Skylark
  8. What a Strange Thing!
  9. Although The Wind …
  10. The Old Pond
  11. Spring Is Like A Perhaps Hand
  12. Hast thou 2 loaves of bread …
  13. Youth and Age
  14. A Postcard From the Volcano
  15. The Kraken
  16. He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
  17. There Is a Solitude of Space
  18. Because I Could Not Stop for Death
  19. Mad Song
  20. Answer July
  21. Success Is Counted Sweetest
  22. Hope Is the Thing with Feathers
  23. The Bluebird
  24. A Vision of the End
  25. The Crying of Water
  26. A Rose Has Thorns As Well As Honey
  27. Winter
  28. The Dark Cavalier
  29. There is no Life or Death
  30. Sheep in Winter
  31. To a Snowflake
  32. Sextain
  33. A Crocodile
  34. Sea Fever
  35. The Giant Cactus of Arizona
  36. The Coming of Night
  37. Going to the Picnic
  38. Moon Tonight
  39. A Southern Night
  40. Greenness
  41. Twilight
  42. On the Wing
  43. In Summer
  44. Before Parting
  45. Sonnet
  46. The Red Wheelbarrow
  47. Acceptance
  48. At The Pool
  49. Incurable
  50. Bluebird and Cardinal
  51. [Say What You Will, And Scratch My Heart To Find]
  52. The River
  53. Vas Doloris
  54. Squirrel
  55. Ghosts
  56. The Spirit of Poetry
  57. Nightfall in the Tropics
  58. Journey of the Magi Scheduled for 23rd December 2024
  59. The City Lights Scheduled for 7th January 2025
Ghosts, abstract photo

There are ghosts in the room. 
As I sit here alone, from the dark corners there 
They come out of the gloom, 
And they stand at my side and they lean on my chair 

    There’s a ghost of a Hope
That lighted my days with a fanciful glow, 
In her hand is the rope
That strangled her life out. Hope was slain long ago. 

    But her ghost comes to-night 
With its skeleton face and expressionless eyes, 
And it stands in the light, 
And mocks me, and jeers me with sobs and with sighs. 

    There’s the ghost of a Joy, 
A frail, fragile thing, and I prized it too much, 
And the hands that destroy
Clasped its close, and it died at the withering touch. 

    There’s the ghost of a Love,
Born with joy, reared with hope, died in pain and unrest, 
But he towers above
All the others—this ghost; yet a ghost at the best, 

    I am weary, and fain
Would forget all these dead: but the gibbering host 
Make my struggle in vain—
In each shadowy corner there lurketh a ghost.
 

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850 – 1919) was an American poet and journalist.

To read more poems, click here.

Favorite Photos: October 2024

1st November 2024
PhotographyWildlife
0 Comment
  1. Favorite Photos: January 2023
  2. Favorite Photos: February 2023
  3. Favorite Photos: March 2023
  4. Favorite Photos: April 2023
  5. Favorite Photos: May 2023
  6. Favorite Photos: June 2023
  7. Favorite Photos: July 2023
  8. Favorite Photos: August 2023
  9. Paris Is Always A Good Idea
  10. Favorite Photos: October 2023
  11. Favorite Photos: November 2023
  12. Favorite Photos: December 2023
  13. Favorite Photos: January 2024
  14. Favorite Photos: February 2024
  15. Favorite Photos: March 2024
  16. Favorite Photos: April 2024
  17. Favorite Photos: May 2024
  18. Favorite Photos: June 2024
  19. Favorite Photos: July 2024
  20. Favorite Photos: August 2024
  21. Favorite Photos: September 2024
  22. Favorite Photos: October 2024
  23. Favorite Photos: November 2024
Boxing Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Joeys

Boxing practice: two young kangaroos sparring at sunset. This is how they learn to fight: first with their mother and then with other young males. As they grow, sparring with other males helps them establish their position within the mob. With experience, the sparring sessions become longer and more intense.

Kangaroos use their sharp claws, strong back legs, and muscular tails —capable of supporting their entire body weight — to deliver powerful kicks that could disembowel a human.

However, these youngsters were only playing and started grooming each other shortly afterward.

This is one of my absolute favorite photos from 2024, but the year isn’t over yet, so we will see which one wins in the end.

🦘Kangaroo Island Kangaroos (Macropus fuliginosus fuliginosus)

📍Kangaroo Island, South Australia

Grazing sheep silhouettes in the golden light

Sometimes, simple is best—just a few grazing sheep and the beauty of the rising sun. There’s something about that golden light that makes everything—sheep butts included—look fabulous!

We were on our way to Seal Bay for a 7am appointment with the research team when we came across these sheep grazing peacefully as the sun rose. Everything was bathed in gold; it was breathtaking.

Unfortunately, we were in a hurry and couldn’t afford to stop for too long. I literally jumped out of the car and quickly took a few photos, hoping some would be good enough 😅. 

📍Kangaroo Island, South Australia

Great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)

Did you know that woodpeckers store seeds, berries, and acorns  in the hollows of trees to prepare for the winter? In late autumn, these resourceful birds not only stash food for the colder months but also occasionally utilize these tree hollows as shelter for resting.

Great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)

📍Lidingö, Stockholm (Sweden)

Red squirrel with Halloween pumpkins
Red squirrel with Halloween pumpkins

Another hoarder 😉 squirrels are, of course, known for squirreling (pun intended) food to prepare for the cold season. They stopped a few moments between supply runs to pose for the 2024 Halloween cards, though.

Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)

📍Lidingö, Stockholm (Sweden)

All photos were taken with Canon EOS R5 and Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM.

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Happy Halloween!

31st October 2024
Uncategorized
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Squirrel with Halloween pumpkin

Trick or treat, bag of sweets, ghosts are walking down the street.

Happy Halloween!

It’s World Kangaroo Day!

24th October 2024
Wildlife
0 Comment
Kangaroo Island Joey
Kangaroo Island Joey

Happy World 🦘Kangaroo Day!

📸 Canon R5 & Canon RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM

📍Kangaroo Island, South Australia

🦘Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Joey (Macropus fuliginosus fuliginosus)

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